Locking assembly for loose-leaf binders



May 22, 1951 E. C. VEVIER 2,553,835

LOCKING ASSEMBLY FOR LOOSE-LEAF BINDERS Filed May 17, 1948 INVENTOR. E/w n- C. Vev/er ATTORNE.

Patented May 22, 1951 LOCKING ASSEMBLY FOR LOOSE-LEAF BINDERS Elwyn C. Vevicr, St. Louis, Mo., assignor to Vevier Loose Leaf Company, St. Louis, Mo., a corporation of Missouri Application May 17, 1948, Serial No. 27,583

1 Claim. 1

The subject matter of this invention is loose leaf binders, particularly of the type having a pair of separable backing members whichin turn are provided with relatively telescopin posts for receiving varying numbers of perforated leaves. More specifically, the invention has to do with a specially formed unitary locking assembly capable of mounting upon andinterconnecting the aforesaid backing members of virtually any type of similar loose leaf binder.

The most important object of this invention is to provide a locking assembly for loose leaf binders, of the kind above mentioned, said assembly including a member rigidly joined to each of the backing members respectively, one of the members having a shiftable element movable to and from a position where the same bites into the other member, to positively hold the latter and its backing member against movement from the other backing member.

Another important object of this invention is to provide in a locking assembly for loose leaf binder, of the kind aforementioned, a pair of swingable dogs each provided 'With a sharpened edge that effectively grips one of the members .of the assembly when such dogs are moved to a position in contact with such one member.

of the binder for easy access when the assembly is to be unlocked.

Many objects relating to details of construction will be made clear during the course of the following specification, reference bein had to the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Fig. 1 is an edge elevational view of a conventional loose leaf binder, parts being broken away to reveal one end of the locking assembly made 'in accordance with the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken on irregular line IIII of Fig. l; and,

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary stretched-out perspective view of all of the component parts of the locking assembly, per se.

It is appreciated that many types of locking means for loose leaf binders have heretofore been madebut, for the most part, such locks have been adaptable for use only with the particular type of binder for which it is designed,

have not been universally adaptable for mountbinder as a unit separate and distinct from the component parts of the binder itself, and have usually been formed as constituting a part of the binder itself, such as the leaf supporting posts themselves. These disadvantages have all been overcome by the locking assembly about to be described and, additionally, a simple, inexpensive and efiiciently-operating mechanism has been provided.

A loose leaf binder of conventional character has been chosen for illustration and is broadly designated by the numeral Ill. This binder l8 constitutes a pair of backing members I2 and M of identical character. One edge of each of these backing members i2 and I4 is provided with an L-shaped extension I9 and I8 respectively normally disposed in overlapping relationship, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawing.

Each of these extensions 56 and I8 is provided with a plurality of inwardly extending posts 20 and 22 respectively that pass through perforations 24 formed in leaves of paper or the like 26. In some instances, the posts 20 and 22 are disposed in alignment and telescoped relationship, but the precise construction of the backing members l2 and I4 and their component parts is of no importance to this invention.

The lockin assembly upon which this invention is predicated is broadly designated by the numeral 28. This assembly constitutes a pair of members 30 and 32 rigidly secured to extensions l6 .and I8 respectively of the binder ill. The member 30 is an elongated rod that depends from one leg of the extension it, which leg is on a plane with its backing member l2. The lowermost end of this rod 30 terminates above the leg of extension l8, upon which the member 32 is mounted.

Rod 30 has a shoulder 34 formed thereon adjacent one of its ends and is secured to the backing member I2 as by riveting 36 or in any other suitable conventional manner.

The member 32 comprises a U-shaped bracket 33 having out-turned flanges 36 adjacent the free ends of'its legs. These flanges 36 are each provided with an opening 38 for receiving a rivet or the like 40 serving to mount bracket 33 upon the extension I8 of backing member Id.

The bight of this bracket 33 is disposed within the binder 18 between the backing members l2 and I4 and is provided with a substantially centrally-located opening 42 for slidably receiving the elongated rod 30.

, Member 32 includes, in addition to the bracket 33, a hollow housing 44 that entirely encompasses the pintles 58 is greater than the length :of

the respective slot 46 in housing 44, to the end that when the dogs are disposed in such slots 46 and extending to the housing 44, such dogs 48 are freely swingable in slots 6.

When the housing 44 is inserted between the legs of the bracket 33, the slots 46 are closed by such legs and the pintles 58 of the dogs 48 extend outwardly through the proximal side wall of housing 44, within which the slots 46 are formed. This construction is clearly apparent from Fig. 3 of the drawing, and shown in Fig. 2 thereof.

A second U-shaped bracket 52 is disposed within the housing 44 with the legs thereof extending oppositely to the legs of the bracket 33. This bracket 52 has opposed slots 54 formed in the legs thereof, adjacent the free ends of such legs, for loosely receiving that part of the respective dogs 48 extending into housing 44 from slots 46 thereof.

A bar 56 is provided with a pair of openings 58 for receiving the rivets 48 and this bar 56 is disposed between the out-turned flanges 36 Y of the bracket 33 and the innermost face of the extension l8 of backing member l4. The bight of the bracket 52 is provided with a pin 68 for receiving one end of a coil spring 62, the opposite end of this coil spring 62 resting directly upon the bar 56.

In other words, the spring 62 is disposed between the bracket 52 and the bar 56 to yieldably hold bracket 52 at the uppermost end of its path of travel.

The dogs 48 are each provided with an inclined, arcuate, sharpened edge 64 that conforms substantially to the circular cross-sectional contour of the rod 30. This edge 64 of the dogs 48 is in opposed relationship to the pintles 50 thereof and, therefore, within the housing 44, Within the bracket 52 and next adjacent that part of the rod 38 extending through opening 42 into the housing 44 and between the legs of the bracket 52.

The bar 56 is provided with a laterally projecting ear E6, which in turn has an opening 68 formed therein for receiving a pivotal pin or bolt 18 that swingably secures an elongated actuating arm 12 to the car 66-. This arm 12 extends from the ear 66 through notches 14 formed in each of the legs of the bracket 33 adjacent the out-turned flanges 36 thereof. Arm i2, also, passes through a pair of openings '36 formed in the housing 44 adjacent to the longitudinal edges thereof.

In other words, the notches 14 of the bracket 33 are each in register with a respective opening 16 of the housing 44 when the latter is between the legs of bracket 33.

Furthermore, the bracket 52 has both of its legs notched adjacent the bight thereof as at 78 to clear the arm 12. Obviously, the notches l4 and 18 and the opening 16 are all of sufiicient width and length to permit free swinging movement of the arm 12 toward and away from the extension l8 of backing member M,

It is clear that, as arm 12 passes through the housing 44, a portion thereof overlies the bight of the bracket 52 and such portion of the arm 12 is cut away and formed in such manner as to present a fulcrum point 88 that freely rocks upon the bight of bracket 52 as arm 12 is swung.

The outermost free end of the arm 12 terminates adjacent to or beyond (as shown in Fig. 2) one edge of the binder ill and its leaves 26. A laterally-turned flap 82 is formed on this end of the arm '12 to permit easy actuation of the latter by the finger of the operator.

When the binder I8 is assembled with the leaves 26 between the backing members [2 and I4, the rod 30 is inserted into the opening 42 of the bracket 33 and, .as this rod 30 moves into the housing 44 between the dogs 48, this rod 38 will be automatically grasped by such dogs 48 because of the tendency of spring 62 to move the dogs 48 toward a position upwardly in parallelism with the bight of bracket 33.

As soon as this rod 30 is moved between the dogs 48, it is automatically held against outward movement from the opening 42. Only upon actuation of the arm 12 will this rod 30 be released.

Furthermore, the greater the pull of rod 30 outwardly from the member 32, the tighter dogs 48 will grip such rod" 30 by the edges 64 thereof, biting into the material from which rod 38 is made. It is thus seen that these oscillating dogs 48 each operate as a wedge between the member 33 and the respective opposed legs of the bracket33.

It is clear that, as arm 12 is moved downwardly toward the extension I8, spring 62 will be compressed as thebracket 52 moves toward the bar 56. Such movement of bracket 52, also, swings the dogs 48 out of biting engagement with the rod 30, whereby the rod- 30 may be freely moved from the opening 42. Itis, also, clear that a varying number of leaves 26 may be disposed within the binder I0, since the dogs 48 will operate upon the rod 30 as effectively anywhere along the length of such rod 38.

Immediately upon the release of arm 12, these dogs 48 automatically move into an operative position because of the spring 62 acting upon the bracket 52. It "is apparent, also, that the swinging axis of each of the dogs 48, by virtue of their pintles 56 within the notches 45, is in transverse relationship to the paths of travel of members 38 and 32 as the backing members [2 and 14 are moved toward and away from each other.

It is to be observed further that the swinging axis of arm 12 on the pivot 18 is substantially parallel with the swinging axes of the two dogs 48.

It is now apparent that the entire locking assembly 28 is embodied and shown in Fig. 3 of the drawing. This assembly can easily be manufactured as a unit and sold as such for mounting upon and use with many diiferent types of loose leaf binders other than that chosen for illustration herein.

Since the dogs 48 are relatively long as compared with the distance between the rod 38 and the corresponding leg of bracket 33, little or no replacement or repair will become necessary during the life of the binder with which the locking assembly is used, since wear upon the sharpened 5 edges 64 of dogs 48 and on the rod 3|! itself will not render the assembly inoperable.

While details of construction have been minutely and carefully described, it is manifest that such changes and modifications thereto as fairly come within the scope of the appended claim are contemplated hereby.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

In a loose leaf binder, the combination of a pair of backing members shiftable relatively toward and from each other and having means for holding varying numbers of leaves in place therebetween, and a locking assembly for releasably holding said members at selected distances apart, said assembly comprising a bracket secured to one of said members; a rod secured to the other member and slidably connected with the bracket for movement toward and away from said one member; a pair of dogs carried by the bracket for swinging movement on parallel axes spaced from the rod and having the latter disposed therebetween; an actuating element for the dogs carried by the bracket for reciprocable movement toward and away from said other member and including an elongated member for each dog REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 581,123 Leslie Apr. 20, 1897 2,167,685 Scherzinger Aug. 1, 1939 2,383,062 Johnson Aug. 21, 1945 2,447,775 Schade Aug. 24, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 9,637 Great Britain 1905 

